The Excellency of This Grace of Contentment

Says the Apostle, I have learned. As if he should say, Blessed be God for this: Oh! It is a mercy of God to me that I have learned this lesson, I find so much good in this Contentment, that I would not for a world but have it: (I have learned it says he.)

Now the very Heathens had a sight of a great excellency that there is in Contentment: I remember I have read of Antistenes a Philosopher, that desired of his gods, (speaking after the heathenish way) nothing in this world to make his life happy, but Contentment; and if he might have any thing that he would desire to make his life happy, he would ask of them, that he might have the spirit of Socrates, that he might have such a spirit as Socrates had, to be able to bear any wrong, any injuries that he met with, and to continue in a quiet temper of spirit whatsoever befell him; for that was the temper of Socrates, whatever befell him he continued the same man, whatever cross befell him no body could perceive any alteration of his spirit though never so great crosses did befall him. This a Heathen did attain to by the strength of Nature, and a common work of the spirit: Now this Antistenes saw such an excellency in this spirit: As when God said to Solomon, What shall I give you? He asked of God wisdom: so says he, If the gods should put it to me to know what I would have, I would desire this thing, that I might have the spirit of Socrates: he saw a great excellency that there was in this. And certainly a Christian may see abundance of excellency in it: I shall labor to set it out to you in this Sermon that you may be in love with this Grace of Contentment.

In the First place, By Contentment we come to give God that worship that is due to him: It is a special part of Divine worship that we owe to God, if we be content in a Christian way, according as has been opened to you; I say it is a special part of the Divine worship that the creature owes to the infinite Creator, in that I do tender that respect that is due from me to the Creator. The word that the Greeks have that signifies to worship, it is as much as to come and crouch before another, as a dog should come crouching unto you, and be willing to lie down at your feet; so the creature in the apprehension of its own baseness, and the infinite Excellency that there is in God above it; when it comes to worship God, it comes and crouches to this God, and it lies down at the feet of God, then does the creature worship God. When you see a dog come crouching to you, and you can make him with holding your hand over him to lie down at your feet; then consider, thus should you do before the Lord, you should come crouching to him, and lie down at his feet even upon your backs or bellies, to lie down in the dust before him, so as to be willing that he should do with you what he will; as sometimes you may turn a dog this way or that way up and down with the hand, and there he lies before you, according to your showing him with your hand: So when the creature shall come and lie down thus before the Lord, then a Creature worships God, does tender you that worship that is due to God. Now in what disposition of heart do we thus crouch to God more, than when we have this Contentment in all conditions that God disposed us unto? This is a crouching unto God's dispose, to be like the poor woman of Canaan, when Christ said, it is not fit to give Children's meat to dogs, but (says she) the dogs have crumbs. I am a dog I confess, Ay, but let me have but a crumb. And so when the soul shall be in such a disposition as to lie down and say, Lord I am but as a dog, yet let me have a crumb, then does it highly honor God. It may be some of you have not your table spread as others have, but God gives you crumbs; now says the poor woman, dogs have crumbs, and when you can find your hearts thus subjecting unto God, to be but as a dog, and can be Contented and bless God for any crumb: I say this is a great worship of God, you worship God by this more than when you come to hear a Sermon, or spend half an hour, or an hour in prayer, or when you come to receive a Sacrament; These are the acts of God's worship, Ay, but these are but external acts of worship, to hear, and pray, and receive Sacraments: But now this is the Soul-worship, to subject itself thus to God. You that often will worship God by Hearing, and Praying, and receiving Sacraments, and yet afterwards will be froward and discontented, know, that God regards not that worship, he will have the soul-worship in this subjecting of the soul to God. Observe it I beseech you, in active obedience, there we worship God by doing that that pleases God, but by passive obedience we do as well worship God by being pleased with that that God does. Now when I perform a duty, I worship God, I do what pleases God: why should I not as well worship God when I am pleased with what God does? As it was said of Christ's obedience, Christ was active in his passive obedience, and passive in his active obedience: So the Saints they are passive in their active obedience; they are first passive in their reception of grace, and then active: And when they come to passive obedience they are active, they put forth grace in active obedience, when they perform actions to God, then says the Soul, Oh! that I could do that that pleases God, when they come to suffer any cross, Oh that what God does might please me. I labor to do what pleases God, and I labor that what God does shall please me, here's a Christian indeed that shall endeavor both these; now this is but one side of a Christian, to endeavor to do what pleases God, but you must as well endeavor to be pleased with what God does, and so you shall come to be a complete Christian when you can do both. And that's the first thing in the excellency of this Grace of Contentment.

The Second thing in the opening of this excellency of Contentment is, That in Contentment there is much exercise of Grace, There is much strength of Grace, yea there is much beauty of Grace in Contentment, there is much exercise of Grace, strength of Grace, and beauty of Grace, I put all these together.

1 Much exercise of Grace, There is a composition of Grace in Contentment, there is faith, and there is humility, and love, and there is patience, and there is wisdom, and there is hope, all graces almost are compounded, it's an oil that has the ingredients of all kind of graces, and therefore though you cannot see the particular grace, yet in this oil you have it all; God sees the Graces of his Spirit exercised in a special manner, and this pleases God at the heart to see the Graces of his Spirit exercised. In some one action that you do you may exercise some one grace especially, but now in Contentment you exercise a great many graces at once.

2 There is a great deal of strength of Grace in Contentment, It argues a great deal of strength in the body, the body to be able to endure hard weather and whatsoever falls out, and yet not to be much altered by it; so it argues strength of Grace to be content: You that complain of weakness of memory, and weakness of parts, you cannot do what others do in other things, but have you this gracious heart-contentment that has been opened to you; I know that you have attained to strength of Grace in this, when it is so spiritual as has been opened to you in the explication of this point. As it is with a man's brain, if a man be distempered in his body and has many obstructions in his body, has an ill stomach, and his spleen and liver obstructed, and yet for all this his brain is not distempered, it is an argument of a great strength of brain, and though there be many ill fumes that rise from his corrupt stomach, yet still his brain is not distempered but he continues in the free exercise of the use of his reason and understanding; every one may understand that this man has a very strong brain, that such things shall not distemper him, whereas other people that have a weak brain, if they do not digest but one meal's meat, the fumes that do arise from their stomachs, do distemper their brain and makes them unfit for every thing, whereas you shall have others that have strong heads, and strong brains, though their stomachs be ill that they do not digest meat, yet still they have the free use of their brain, this argues strength: So it is in a man's spirit, you shall have many that have weak spirits, and if they have any ill fumes, if accidents befall them, you shall presently have them out of temper, but you shall have other men that though things do fume up yet still they keep in a steady-way, and have the use of reason and of other graces, and possess their Souls with patience. As I remember it's reported of the Eagle, it's not like other fowls, other fowls when they are hungry make a noise, but the Eagle is never heard to make a noise though it wants food, and it is from the magnitude of his spirit that it will not make such complaints as other fowls will do when they want food, it is because it is above hunger, and above thirst: So it is argument of a gracious magnitude of spirit that whatsoever befalls it, yet it is not always whining and complaining so as others are, but goes on still in its way and course, and blesses God and keeps in a constant tenor whatsoever thing befalls it, such things as causes others to be dejected and fretted and vexed, and takes away all the comfort of their lives, it makes no alteration at all in the spirits of these men and women, I say this is a sign of a great deal of strength of Grace.

3 It's also an argument of a great deal of beauty of Grace. It's a speech that Seneca a Heathen once had, saith he, When you go abroad into groves and woods; and there you see the tallness of the trees and their shadows, it strikes a kind of awful fear of a Deity in you, and when you see the vast rivers and fountains, and deep waters that strikes a kind of fear of a God in you but (saith he) do you see a man that is quiet in tempests, and that lives happily in the midst of adversities, why do not you worship that man? He doth think him a man even to be honoured that shall be quiet and live a happy life though in the midst of adversities. The glory of God appears here more than in any of his works; there is no works that God hath made, the Sun Moon and Stars and all the world wherein so much of the glory of God doth appear, as in a man that lives quietly in the midst of adversity. That was that that convinced the King, when he saw the three Children could walk in the midst of the fiery furnace and not be touched, the King was mightily convinced by this, that surely their God was a great God indeed, and that they were highly beloved of their God that could walk in the midst of the furnace and not be touched, whereas the others that came but to the mouth of the furnace were devoured, so when a Christian can walk in the midst of fiery trials, and not his garments singed, but have comfort and joy in the midst of all (as Paul in the stocks) can sing, (that wrought upon the jailor:) so it will convince men when they see the power of grace in the midst of afflictions, such afflictions as would make others to roar under them, yet they can behave themselves in a gracious and holy manner; Oh it's the glory of a Christian. It is that that is said to be the glory of Christ, (for so by Interpreters it is thought to be meant of Christ) In Micah, 5:5. And this man (the text saith) shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our palaces. This man shall be the peace when the Assyrian shall come into our land; for one to be in peace when there is no enemies it's no great matter, but saith the text when the Assyrian shall come into our land, then this man shall be the peace; that is, when all shall be in an hubbub and uproar yet then this man shall be peace. That's the trial of grace when you find Jesus Christ in your hearts to be peace when the Assyrian shall come into the land. You may think you find peace in Christ when you have no outward troubles, but is Christ your peace when the Assyrian comes into the land, when the enemy comes? Suppose you should hear the enemy come marching to the City and had taken the works, and were plundering, what would be your peace? Jesus Christ would be peace to the soul when the enemy comes into the City, and into your houses; If there be any of you that have been where the enemy hath come, what hath been the peace of your souls? That that's said of Christ may be applied to this grace of Contentment, when the Assyrian, the plunderers, the enemies, when any affliction, trouble, distress doth befall such a heart, then this grace of Contentment brings peace to the soul; at that time brings peace to their soul when the Assyrian comes into the land: The grace of Contentment it's an excellent grace, there's much beauty, much strength in it, there is a great deal of worth in this grace, and therefore be in love with it.

The Third thing in the excellency of Contentment is this, By Contentment the soul is fitted to receive mercy, and to do service, I'll put those two together, Contentment makes the soul fit to receive mercy, and to do service; no man or woman in the world is so fit for to receive the Grace of God, and to do the work of God as those that have contented spirits.

1 Those are fitted to receive mercy from the Lord that are contented: As now, if you would have a vessel to take in any liquor, you must hold the vessel still, if the vessel stir and shake up and down you cannot pour in any thing, but you will bid hold still that you may pour it in and not lose any; so if we would be the vessels to receive God's mercy, and would have the Lord pour in his mercy to us, we must have quiet still hearts, we must not have hearts hurrying up and down in trouble discontent and vexing, but we must have still and quiet hearts if we would receive mercy from the Lord: If a child throws and flings up and down for a thing, you will not give it him then when he cries so, but first you will have the child quiet, though perhaps you do intend the child shall have the thing he cries for, but you will not give it him till he is quiet and comes and stands still before you and is contented without it and then you will give it him: and truly so doth the Lord deal with us, (for our dealing, with him are just as your froward children are with you) as soon as you would have a thing from God if you have it not you are disquieted presently and all in an uproar (as it were) in your spirits: God intends mercy to you, but saith God you shall not have it yet, I will see you quiet first, and then in the quietness of your hearts come to me and see what I will do with you. I appeal to you, you that are any way acquainted with the ways of God, have you not found this to be the way of God towards you, when you have been troubled for want perhaps of some spiritual comfort, and your hearts were vexed at it, you get nothing from God all that while; but now if you have got your heart into a quiet frame, and can say, well, it's fit the Lord should do with his poor creatures what he will, I am under his feet, and am resolved to do what I can to honour him; and let him do with me what he will I will seek him as long as I live, I will be content with what God gives; and whether he gives or no I will be content; yea, are you in this frame (saith God) now you shall have comfort, now I will give you the mercy. A prisoner must not think to get off his fetters by pulling and tearing, he may gall his flesh and rend it to the very bone, certainly he will be unfettered never the sooner, but if he would have his fetters taken off he must quietly give up himself to some man to take them off; If a beggar after he hath knocked once or twice at the door and you come not, and thereupon he is vexed and troubled and thinks much that you let him stand a little while without any thing, you think that this beggar is not fit to receive an alms, but if you hear two or three beggars at your door, and if you hear them out of your window say, let us be content to stay, perhaps they are busy, it's fit that we should stay, it's well if we have any thing at last, we deserve nothing at all, and therefore we may well wait a while; you would then quickly send them an alms; so God deals with the heart, when it is in a disquiet way then God doth not give; but when the heart lies down quietly under God's hand, then is the heart in a fit frame to receive mercy: Your strength shall be to sit still (saith God,) you shall not be delivered from Babylon but by your sitting still.

2 As fit to receive mercy, So fit to do service, Oh the quiet fruits of righteousness, the peaceable fruits of righteousness; they indeed do prosper and multiply most when they come to be peaceable fruits of righteousness. As the Philosophers say of every thing that moves, nothing that moves but it moves upon something that is immovable; as a thing that moves upon the earth, if the earth were not still it could not move.

Objection. The ships move upon the Sea, and that is not still.

Answer. But the Seas they move upon that which is still and immovable, there is nothing moves but it hath something immovable that doth uphold it: The wheels in a Coach they move up and down, but the axletree that moves not up and down; so it is with the heart of a man. As they say of the Heaven, it moves up and down upon a pole that is immovable: so it is in the heart of a man, if he will move to do service to God he must have a steady heart within him, that must help him to move in the service of God, those that have unsteady disquiet spirits that have no steadfastness at all in them, they are not fit to do service for God, but such as have steadfastness in their spirits they are men and women fit to do any service, and that's the reason that when the Lord hath any great work for any servants of his to do, usually he doth first quiet their spirits, he doth bring their spirits into a quiet sweet frame to be contented with any thing, and then he sets them about employment.

The Fifth excellency is this, Contentment it does deliver us from abundance of temptations. Oh the temptations that men of discontented spirits are subject to, the Devil loves to fish in troubled waters. That is our proverb of men and women, their disposition is to fish in troubled waters, they say it is good fishing in troubled waters. This is the maxim of the Devil, he loves to fish in troubled waters. Where he sees the spirits of men and women troubled and vexed, there the Devil comes. Says he, there is good fishing for me. When he sees men and women go discontented up and down and he can get them alone, then he comes with his temptations. Says he, Will you suffer such a thing? Take such a shifting indirect way? Do not you see how poor you are, others are brave? You know not what you shall do against winter, to provide fuel and get bread for you and your children. And so he tempts them to unlawful courses. This is the special distemper that the Devil fastens upon. When he brings men and women to give up their souls to him, it is upon discontent. That is the ground of all those that have been witches, and so have given up themselves to the Devil, the rise of it has been their discontent. And therefore it is observable that those the Devil works upon to make them witches, usually they are old and melancholy people, and women especially, and those that are of the poorer sort, that are discontent at home, their neighbors trouble them and vex them, and their spirits are weak and they cannot bear it, so upon that the Devil fastens his temptations and draws them to anything. If they be poor, then he promises them money. If they have revengeful spirits, then he tells them that he will revenge them upon such and such persons. Now this quiets and contents them. Oh! there is matter of temptation for the Devil where he meets with a discontented spirit. As Luther says of God, God does not dwell in Babylon, but in Salem; Babylon signifies confusion, and Salem signifies peace. Now God does not dwell in spirits that are in a confusion, but He dwells in peaceable and quiet spirits. Oh if you would free yourselves from temptations, labor for Contentment. It is the peace of God that guards the heart from temptation. I remember I have read of one Marius Curio that when he had bribes sent him, to tempt him to be unfaithful to his country, he was sitting at home at dinner with a dish of turnips, and they came and promised him rewards. Says he, That man that can be contented with this fare that I have, will not be tempted with your rewards. I thank God I am content with this fare, and as for rewards let them be offered to those that cannot be content to dine with a dish of turnips. So the truth is we see it apparently, that the reason why many do betray their trust, as in the Parliament service and Kingdom, because they cannot be contented to be in a low condition. Let a man be contented to be in a low condition, and to go meanly clothed if God sees it fit, such a man is shot-free (as I may so say) from thousands of temptations of the Devil, that do prevail against others to the damning of their souls. Oh in such times as these are when men are in danger of the loss of their estates, I say these men that have not got this grace are in a most lamentable condition, they are in more danger for their souls than they are for their outward estates. You think it is a sad thing to be in danger of your outward estates that you may lose all in a night, but if you have not this contented spirit within you, you are in more danger of the temptations of the Devil to be plundered that way of any good, and to be led into sin. Oh when men think thus, they must live as brave as they were wont to do, these men make themselves a prey to the Devil. But for such as can say let God do with me what He pleases, I am content to submit to His hand in it, the Devil will scarce meddle with such men. It is a notable speech of a Philosopher that lived upon mean fare, and as he was eating herbs and roots, says one to him, If you would but please Dionysius you need not eat herbs and roots: but he answered him thus, If you would but be content with such mean fare you need not flatter Dionysius. So temptations will no more prevail upon a contented man, than a dart that is thrown against a brazen wall. That is the Fifth particular.

The Sixth excellency is, The abundant comforts in a man's life that Contentment will bring: Contentment will make a man's life exceeding sweet and comfortable, nothing more than the grace of Contentment. Many ways I will show how it brings in Comfort.

1. As first, What a man has he has it in a kind of Independent way, not depending upon any Creature for his Comfort.

2. A Contented man whose estate is low, if God raises his estate he has the love of God in it, and then it is abundantly more sweet than if he had it and his heart not contented. For if he had not the love of God in it, for it may be God grants to a discontented man his desire, but he cannot say it is from love. If a man has quieted his spirit first, and then God grants him his desire, he may have more comfort in it, and more assurance that he has the love of God in it.

3. This Contentment is a comfort to a man's spirit in this, that it does keep in his comforts, and keep out whatsoever may damp his comforts, or put out the light of them: I may compare this Grace of Contentment to a Mariner's Lantern. A Mariner when he is at Sea let him have never so much provision in his ship, yet if he be thousands of leagues from land, or in a road that he shall not meet with a ship in three or four months, if he has never a Lantern in his ship, nor nothing whereby he can keep a Candle light in a storm, he will be in a sad condition. He would give a great deal to have a Lantern, or something that may serve in stead of it. When a storm comes in the night, and he cannot have any light come above-board, but is puffed out presently, his condition is very sad. So many men can have the light of comfort when there is no storm, but let there come but any affliction, any storm upon them their light is puffed out presently, and what shall they do now? When the heart is furnished with this Grace of Contentment; this Grace is (as it were) the Lantern, and it keeps comfort in the spirit of a man, light in the midst of a storm and tempest. When you have a Lantern in the midst of a storm you can carry a light everywhere up and down the ship to the top of the Mast if you will, and yet keep it light. So the comfort of a Christian when it is enlivened with the grace of Contentment, it may be kept light whatever storms or tempests come, yet he can keep light in his soul. Oh! this helps your comforts exceeding much.

Seventhly. There is this Excellency in Contentment, that it fetches in the comfort of those things we have not really in possession; and perhaps many that have not outward things, have more comfort than those have that do enjoy them themselves. As now, a man by distilling herbs, though he has not the herbs themselves, yet having the water that is distilled out of them, he may enjoy the benefit of the herbs. So though a man has not the real possession of such an outward estate, an outward comfort, yet he by the grace of Contentment may fetch it in to himself. By the art of Navigation we can fetch in the riches of the East and West-Indies to ourselves; so by the art of Contentment we may fetch in the comfort of any condition to ourselves, that is, we may have that comfort by Contentment, that we should have if we had the thing itself. There is a notable story you have for this in Plutarch, in the life of Pyrrhus; one Cineas comes to him, and would very fain have had him desist from the wars, and not war with the Romans. Says he to him, May it please your Majesty, it is reported that the Romans are very good men of war, and if it please the gods we do overcome them, what benefit shall we have of that Victory? Pyrrhus answered him, We shall then straight conquer all the rest of Italy with ease. Says Cineas, Indeed it is likely which your Grace speaks: But when we have won Italy, will then our wars end? If the Gods were pleased said Pyrrhus, that the victory were achieved, the way were then broad open for us to attain great conquests, for who would not afterwards go into Africa, and so to Carthage? But (says Cineas) when we have all in our hands, what shall we do in the end? Then Pyrrhus laughing, told him again, we will then be quiet, and take our ease, and make feasts every day, and be as merry one with another as we can possibly. Says Cineas, What hinders us now to be as quiet, and merry together, since we enjoy that presently without further travel and trouble which we should go seek for abroad, with such shedding of blood, and so manifest danger: Cannot you sit down and be merry now? So a man may think, if I had such a thing, then I would have another, and if I had that, then I should have more: and what if you had got all your desire? Then you would be content, why? You may be content now without them. Certainly our Contentment does not consist in the getting of the thing we desire, but in God's fashioning our spirits to our conditions. There are some men that have not a foot of ground of their own, yet will live better than other men that are heirs to a great deal of land. I have known it in the country sometimes, that a man lives upon his own land, and yet lives very poorly, but you shall have another man that shall farm his land, and yet by his good husbandry, and by his care shall live better sometimes than he that has the land of his own. So a man by this art of Contentment may live better without an estate than another man can of an estate. Oh! it adds exceeding much to the comfort of a Christian: and that I may show it farther, there is more comfort even in grace of Contentment than there is in any possessions whatsoever. A man has more comfort in being content without a thing, than he can have in the thing that he in a discontented way does desire.

You think, if I had such a thing, then I should be content. I say, There is more good in Contentment, than there is in the thing that you would fain have to cure your discontent, and that I shall open in diverse particulars, As thus,

1. I would fain have such a thing, and then I could be content; but if I had it then it were but the creature that did help to my Contentment; but now it is the Grace of God in my soul that makes me content. And surely it is better to be Content with the Grace of God in my soul, than with the enjoying of an outward comfort.

2. If I had such a thing, indeed my estate might be better, but my soul would not be better, but by Contentment my soul is better, that would not be bettered by an estate, or lands, or friends; but Contentment makes myself to be better. And therefore Contentment is a better portion than the thing is that I would fain have to be my portion.

3. If I get Content by having my desire satisfied, that is but self-love; but when I am Contented with the hand of God, and am willing to be at His disposal, that comes from my love to God in having my desire satisfied, there I am contented through self-love, but through the Grace of Contentment I come to be contented out of love to God. And is it not better to be contented from a principle of love to God, than from a principle of self-love?

4. If I am contented because I have that that I have a desire to, perhaps I am contented in that one particular, but that one particular does not furnish me with Contentment in another thing; perhaps I may grow more dainty and nice, and froward in other things. If you give children what they would have in some things, they grow so much the more coy and dainty, and discontented if they have not other things that they would have; but if I have once overcome my heart, and am contented through the grace of God in my heart, then this does not content me only in a particular, but in general, whatsoever befalls me. I am discontented, and would fain have such a thing, and afterwards I have it: now does this prepare me to be contented in other things? No, but when I have gotten this Grace of Contentment, I am prepared to be contented in all conditions: and thus you see that Contentment does bring comfort to a man's life, fills a man's life full of comfort in this world. Yea, the truth is, it is even a Heaven upon Earth, why? What is Heaven, but the rest and quiet of a man's spirit? What is the special thing that is in Heaven, but rest, and joy, that makes the life of Heaven, there is rest and joy, and satisfaction in God: so it is here in a contented spirit, there is rest, and joy, and satisfaction in God. In Heaven, there is singing praises to God; a contented heart is always praising and blessing God; you have Heaven while you are upon earth when you have a contented spirit, yea, in some regards it is better than Heaven. How is that you will say? There is some kind of honor that God has in it, and some excellency that He has not in Heaven, and that is this,

In Heaven there is no overcoming of temptations, they are not put to any trials by afflictions: there in Heaven they have exercise of grace, but they have nothing but encouragement to it, and indeed those that are there their grace is perfect, and in that they do excel us. But there is nothing to cross their grace, they have no trials at all to tempt them to do contrary. But now for a man or woman to be in the midst of afflictions, temptations and troubles, and yet to have grace exercised, and yet to be satisfied in God and Christ, and in the Word and Promises in the midst of all they suffer, this may seem to be an honor that God has from us, that He has not from the Angels and Saints in Heaven. Is it so much for one that is in Heaven that has nothing else but good from God, has nothing to try them, no temptations, is that so much for them to be praising and blessing God, as for the poor soul that is in the midst of trials and temptations, and afflictions, and troubles? For this soul to go on praising and blessing, and serving God; I (say) it is an excellency that you shall not have in Heaven, and God shall not have this kind of glory from you in Heaven, and therefore be contented, and prize this Contentment, and be willing to live in this world as long as God shall please, and do not think, Oh that I were delivered from all these afflictions and troubles herein this world! If you were, then you should have more ease to yourself: but here is a way of honoring God, and manifesting the excellency of Grace here when you are in this Conflict of temptation that God shall not have from you in Heaven, and therefore be satisfied and quiet, be contented with your Contentment. I want such and such things that others have, but blessed be God I have a contented heart that others have not, then I say be content with your Contentment, for that is a rich portion that the Lord has granted unto them, if the Lord should give unto you thousands here in this world, it would not be such a rich portion as this, that He has given you a contented spirit. Oh go away and praise the Name of God, and say, Lord, it is true these and these comforts that others have I should be glad if I had them, but Thou hast cut me short, but though I want these, yet Thou hast given me that that is as good and better, Thou hast given me a quiet contented heart, to be willing to be at Thy dispose.

The apostle says, "I have learned." It is as if he were saying: "Blessed be God for this — what a mercy it is that I have learned this lesson. I find so much good in contentment that I would not trade it for the world."

Even the pagans caught a glimpse of the great excellence of contentment. I recall reading of Antistenes, a philosopher, who asked of his gods — speaking in the way of the pagans — for nothing in this world to make his life happy but contentment. If he could ask for one thing to make his life happy, he said he would ask for the spirit of Socrates — a spirit that could bear any wrong, any injury, without losing its inner calm. Whatever happened to Socrates, he remained the same man; no matter how great the trial, no one could see any change in his spirit. Antistenes achieved this through natural strength and a common work of the spirit, without grace. He saw such excellence in that kind of spirit — just as when God said to Solomon, "What shall I give you?" and Solomon asked for wisdom — so Antistenes said: "If the gods put that question to me, this is what I would ask: the spirit of Socrates." He saw something truly excellent in it. How much more should a Christian see the abundance of excellence in contentment. I will try in this sermon to open it up to you, so that you may fall in love with this grace of contentment.

The first excellence of contentment is this: through contentment we give God the worship He is due. When we are content in a truly Christian way, as I have been describing, it is a special act of divine worship — the worship a creature owes to its infinite Creator. The Greek word for worship carries the idea of coming and crouching before another, as a dog comes crouching to you and lies down at your feet. So when the creature, grasping its own lowliness and God's infinite greatness above it, comes and crouches before God and lies down at His feet — that is worship. Think of how you can hold your hand over a dog and make him lie down before you. In the same way, you ought to come before the Lord, lying down in the dust before Him, willing for Him to do with you whatever He will — turning you whichever way He pleases, and there you rest before Him. In what posture of heart do we crouch before God more fully than when we have this contentment in whatever condition He places us? This is crouching to God's disposal — being like the Canaanite woman when Christ said it was not fitting to give the children's bread to dogs. She replied: "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs." "I am a dog, I confess — but let me have a crumb." When the soul comes to lie down and say, "Lord, I am but as a dog — yet let me have a crumb," it greatly honors God. Perhaps your table is not spread as others' are — God gives you crumbs. The poor woman said dogs eat crumbs, and when you can find your heart submitted to God in this way — willing to be as a dog, content and blessing God for any crumb — that is great worship. Indeed, you worship God more by this than by hearing a sermon, or by spending half an hour or an hour in prayer, or by receiving a sacrament. Those are acts of worship, yes — but they are external acts: hearing, praying, receiving the sacraments. This is soul-worship: the soul subjecting itself to God. You who often worship God by hearing, praying, and receiving the sacraments, and yet afterward are prickly and discontented — know this: God does not regard that worship. He wants the soul-worship — the soul genuinely submitting itself to Him. Consider this carefully: in active obedience, we worship God by doing what pleases Him; in passive obedience, we worship God by being pleased with what He does. When I perform a duty, I worship God — I do what pleases God. So why should I not equally worship God when I am pleased with what God does? As it has been said of Christ's obedience — He was active in His passive obedience, and passive in His active obedience — so it is with believers. In their active obedience, they first received grace passively and then acted on it. And in their passive obedience, they are active — putting grace to work. When performing duties toward God, the soul says: "Oh, that I could do what pleases God." When suffering any trial, the soul says: "Oh, that what God does would please me." I labor to do what pleases God, and I labor to be pleased with what God does. This is a complete Christian — one who strives for both. Striving only to do what pleases God is only one side of the Christian life; you must equally strive to be pleased with what God does. When you can do both, you will be a complete Christian. That is the first excellence of this grace of contentment.

The second excellence of contentment is that it involves much exercise of grace, much strength of grace, and much beauty of grace — I will take all three together.

First, contentment involves much exercise of grace. Contentment is a blend of graces: faith, humility, love, patience, wisdom, and hope are all mixed together in it. It is like an oil that contains the essence of every kind of grace — you may not be able to identify each ingredient separately, but they are all present. God sees the graces of His Spirit exercised in a special way in contentment, and this pleases Him deeply. In any one particular action you might exercise one grace especially — but in contentment you exercise many graces at once.

Second, contentment demonstrates great strength of grace. Just as physical endurance — the ability to bear hard weather and difficult conditions without being greatly affected — shows bodily strength, so contentment shows strength of grace. You may complain that you have a weak memory or limited abilities, that you cannot do what others do — but if you have this heart-contentment in its truly spiritual form, as I have described it, know that you have attained to strength of grace. Think of a man whose body is out of sorts — his stomach is bad, his spleen and liver are obstructed — and yet his mind is perfectly clear. Even though harmful vapors rise from his disordered stomach, his brain is unaffected and he continues to reason and understand freely. Everyone can see that this man has a very strong mind — the kind of constitution that other things cannot disturb. A person with a weak mind, on the other hand, can go off course just from missing one meal — the fumes from his stomach cloud his thinking and make him useless for anything. But the person with a strong mind keeps his clarity even when his stomach is troubled. That is strength. It is the same in the spirit. Some people have weak spirits — let any misfortune arise and they immediately fall apart. But others, though trouble rises up around them, remain steady: they keep using their reason and the other graces, and they possess their souls with patience. I recall reading that the eagle, unlike other birds, does not cry out when it is hungry. Other birds make noise when they lack food, but the eagle is never heard to complain — and this comes from the greatness of its spirit. It rises above hunger and thirst. In the same way, it is a sign of great strength of grace when a person, whatever befalls him, does not constantly whine and complain as others do, but continues steadily on his way, blessing God and maintaining an even spirit through everything. What causes others to be cast down, fretting and vexing, robbing them of all comfort — makes no alteration at all in the spirits of these men and women. That is a sign of great strength of grace.

Third, contentment also demonstrates great beauty of grace. Seneca, a pagan, once said: when you walk out into groves and forests and see the height of the trees and their shade, a kind of reverent awe of a divine power comes over you. When you see vast rivers and fountains and deep waters, a similar sense of God strikes you. But, he said, when you see a person who is calm in storms and lives happily in the midst of adversity — why would you not honor that person? He thought such a person deserved reverence — someone who could be quiet and live a happy life even in the midst of adversities. The glory of God appears in such a person more than in any of His other works. There is no work God has made — not the sun, moon, stars, or the whole world — in which so much of God's glory appears as in a person living quietly in the midst of adversity. This is what convinced the king when he saw the three young men walking in the midst of the fiery furnace without being harmed. The king was powerfully struck: surely their God was a great God, and they were deeply loved by Him, to walk in the furnace untouched while those who merely approached the mouth of the furnace were consumed. In the same way, when a Christian can walk in the midst of fiery trials with his garments unsinged — finding comfort and joy in the midst of it all, as Paul did in the stocks, singing — it convinces others. That is what worked on the jailer. When people see the power of grace under afflictions that would make others roar — yet these people behave in a gracious and holy manner — it is the glory of a Christian. This is also what is said of Christ — at least interpreters believe it refers to Christ — in Micah 5:5: "And this man shall be their peace when the Assyrian comes into our land and when he treads in our palaces." This man shall be the peace when the Assyrian comes into our land. To be at peace when there are no enemies is not remarkable — but to be at peace when the Assyrian comes into the land, when everything is in an uproar, and still this man shall be peace — that is something. That is the proof of grace: finding Jesus Christ in your heart as your peace when the Assyrian comes into the land. You may think you find peace in Christ when there is no outward trouble — but is Christ your peace when the enemy comes? Suppose you heard that an enemy was marching toward the city, had broken through the defenses, and was plundering — what would be your peace? Jesus Christ would be peace to the soul even then. If any of you have lived through such a time when an enemy came — what sustained your soul? What is said of Christ may be applied to this grace of contentment: when the Assyrian, the plunderer, the enemy — when any affliction, trouble, or distress — comes upon such a heart, the grace of contentment brings peace to the soul at that very moment. Contentment is an excellent grace: it has much beauty, much strength, and great worth. Fall in love with it.

The third excellence of contentment is this: contentment makes the soul fit to receive mercy and fit to do service. I will take those two together. No one in the world is better prepared to receive God's grace and to do God's work than those who have contented spirits.

First, those who are content are ready to receive mercy from the Lord. Think of it this way: if you want to fill a vessel with liquid, you must hold it still — if it is shaking and moving about, you cannot pour anything in. You say, "Hold still, so I can pour it in without spilling any." In the same way, if we would be vessels to receive God's mercy and have the Lord pour His mercy into us, we must have quiet and still hearts. We must not have hearts rushing about in trouble, discontent, and vexing — we must have still and quiet hearts. If a child throws a fit crying for something, you do not give it to him while he is in that state — though you may well intend to give it to him. You wait until the child is quiet, until he stands calmly before you and is content without it — and then you give it to him. This is exactly how the Lord deals with us. As soon as we want something from God and do not have it, we are immediately unsettled and our spirits are in an uproar. God intends to show mercy to us — but He says, "Not yet. I want to see you quiet first. Come to me in the quietness of your heart, and then see what I will do." I appeal to anyone who is at all acquainted with God's ways: have you not found this to be true? When you were troubled over the lack of some spiritual comfort and your heart was vexed about it, you received nothing from God during that time. But when you quieted your heart and said, "It is right that the Lord should do with His poor creature as He wills — I am under His feet, and I am resolved to honor Him as best I can, and to seek Him as long as I live, content with whatever He gives, whether much or little" — were you in that frame of mind? Then God says: "Now you shall have comfort. Now I will give you the mercy." A prisoner cannot work off his chains by pulling and tearing — he will only tear his flesh to the bone, and he will not get free any sooner. If he wants his chains removed, he must calmly submit to another person to take them off. If a beggar knocks at the door once or twice and gets no answer, and then becomes vexed and resentful that you have left him waiting, you think that beggar is not in a fit state to receive charity. But suppose you heard two or three beggars at your door, and from your window you heard them say: "Let us wait patiently — they must be busy. It is right that we should wait. If we receive anything at the end, that is well. We deserve nothing, so we can certainly wait a while." You would quickly send them alms. This is how God deals with the heart: when it is unsettled, God withholds; when the heart lies quietly under God's hand, it is ready to receive mercy. As God says, "In returning and rest you will be saved" — you will not be delivered from Babylon by struggling, but by sitting still.

Second, just as contentment prepares us to receive mercy, it also prepares us to do service. The quiet fruits of righteousness — peaceable fruits of righteousness — thrive and multiply most when they grow in peace. Philosophers observe that everything that moves does so upon something that is itself unmoved. Anything moving on the earth depends on the earth being still — if the earth were not steady, nothing could move upon it.

Objection: But ships move on the sea, and the sea is not still.

Answer: The sea itself moves upon what is fixed and immovable beneath it. Nothing moves without something unmoved holding it up. The wheels of a carriage turn and spin, but the axle does not move up and down. The heavens move in their courses upon a fixed pole that does not move. So it is with the human heart: if a person is to move in serving God, he must have a steady heart within — a stillness that anchors and enables his activity. Those with unsettled, restless spirits, with no steadfastness in them, are not fit to do service for God. But those with steady spirits are fit for any service. This is why, when the Lord has a great work for one of His servants to do, He usually first quiets that person's spirit — bringing them into a calm, sweet frame of contentment with any condition — and then He sets them to work.

The fifth excellence is this: contentment delivers us from countless temptations. Those with discontented spirits are subject to temptations without number. The devil loves to fish in troubled waters — that is the common saying about people who stir up trouble to take advantage of it, and it is equally the devil's practice. Where the devil sees human spirits troubled and vexed, he says to himself: "Good fishing here." When he sees men and women wandering about discontented, and catches them alone, he comes with his temptations. "Will you put up with this?" he says. "Take this indirect, dishonest path. Look how poor you are while others live well. You don't know how you will get through winter — how you will get fuel, how you will feed yourself and your children." And so he tempts them toward unlawful ways. This is the specific weakness the devil seizes on. When he brings people to give up their souls to him, it is always on the ground of discontent. That has been the root cause of those who have become witches and handed themselves over to the devil — it began with discontent. This is why the devil works upon certain kinds of people to make them witches: they are usually old and melancholy, often women, often from the poorer sort, discontented at home, vexed by their neighbors, with spirits too weak to bear it. The devil fastens his temptations on that weakness and draws them wherever he wants. If they are poor, he promises money. If they have bitter, vengeful spirits, he promises revenge against those who have wronged them. This is what quiets and contents them — but at a terrible price. There is rich material for temptation wherever the devil finds a discontented spirit. As Luther says of God: God does not dwell in Babylon, but in Salem — Babylon means confusion, and Salem means peace. God does not dwell in spirits that are in confusion; He dwells in peaceable, quiet spirits. If you want to free yourself from temptation, pursue contentment. It is the peace of God that guards the heart from temptation. I recall reading of Marius Curio, who was sitting at home eating a dish of turnips when men came to bribe him to betray his country. He said: "A man who can be content with the meal I am eating will not be tempted by your rewards. I am thankful for this fare — offer your bribes to those who cannot be content to dine on turnips." And the truth is, we can plainly see that the reason many men betray their trust — in public service, in civic life — is that they cannot be content in a modest condition. Let a man be content to live plainly and dress simply when God sees that fit, and he is protected — as I might say, bulletproof — from thousands of temptations that bring others to the ruin of their souls. In times like these, when people face the loss of their estates, those without this grace are in a most pitiable condition. They are in greater danger for their souls than for their outward estates. You may think it is a terrible thing to face losing everything in a night — but without a contented spirit, you are in even greater danger of being spiritually plundered by the devil and led into sin. When men think they must maintain the standard of living they once had, they make themselves prey to the devil. But those who can say, "Let God do with me what He pleases — I am content to submit to His hand" — the devil will scarcely trouble such people. There is a striking saying from a philosopher who lived on simple food: as he was eating herbs and roots, someone said to him, "If you would just please Dionysius, you would not have to eat herbs and roots." He replied: "If you would be content with such simple food, you would not have to flatter Dionysius." Temptations have no more effect on a contented person than a dart thrown against a bronze wall. That is the fifth excellence.

The sixth excellence is this: contentment brings abundant comfort into a person's life. Contentment makes life exceedingly sweet and comfortable — nothing does more for this than the grace of contentment. I will show several ways in which it brings comfort.

First, what a contented person has, he possesses in a kind of independent way, without depending on outward circumstances for his comfort.

Second, if a contented person has a modest estate and God then raises it, he can receive that blessing as a gift of God's love — and it is abundantly sweeter than if he had obtained it while his heart was discontented. When a discontented person gets what he wants, he cannot be sure it comes from love. But when a person has first quieted his spirit and then God grants his desire, he can receive it with greater comfort and greater confidence that it comes from God's love.

Third, contentment brings comfort by keeping comfort alive within us and shutting out whatever would dim or extinguish it. I would compare the grace of contentment to a sailor's lantern. A sailor at sea may have abundant provisions in his ship, but if he is thousands of miles from land, or in waters where he will not meet another ship for months, and he has no lantern — no way to keep a candle burning in a storm — he will be in a dire situation. He would give a great deal to have a lantern, or something to serve in its place. When a storm comes at night and any light carried above deck is immediately blown out, his situation is desperate. In the same way, many people can have the light of comfort when there is no storm — but let any affliction, any storm arise, and their light is instantly extinguished. What are they to do then? When the heart is furnished with the grace of contentment, that grace is like the lantern — it keeps comfort burning in the spirit even through storm and tempest. With a lantern in the midst of a storm, you can carry a light anywhere on the ship — all the way up to the top of the mast — and still keep it burning. In the same way, the comfort of a Christian, when it is sheltered by the grace of contentment, can be kept burning through whatever storms or tempests come. That soul can keep light within, whatever the outward weather. This is an enormous help to your comfort.

The seventh excellence is this: contentment draws in the comfort of things we do not actually possess. And those who lack outward things often have more comfort than those who actually have them. Think of how a person can distill herbs: even without having the herbs themselves, by drawing out the distilled water from them, he can enjoy their benefit. In the same way, even without real possession of an outward estate or comfort, a person can draw it in by the grace of contentment. Just as navigation can bring the riches of the East and West Indies home to us, so the art of contentment can bring in the comfort of any condition — giving us the same benefit as if we actually possessed the thing itself. There is a notable story in Plutarch's life of Pyrrhus. Cineas came to him and wanted very much to persuade him to abandon his wars and stop fighting against the Romans. He said: "May it please your Majesty — it is reported that the Romans are very able soldiers. If the gods grant us victory over them, what benefit will that victory bring us?" Pyrrhus answered: "We will then easily conquer the rest of Italy." Cineas replied: "That is very likely, your Grace — but when we have won Italy, will our wars be over then?" "If the gods grant us that victory," said Pyrrhus, "the way will be wide open for great conquests — who would not then go into Africa, and on to Carthage?" "But when we have all that in our hands," said Cineas, "what shall we do in the end?" Pyrrhus laughed and said: "Then we will be at rest, take our ease, feast every day, and be as merry with each other as we can." Cineas replied: "What is stopping us from being just as quiet and merry together right now? We can enjoy that immediately, without further toil and danger — without shedding blood and risking everything. Can you not sit down and be merry now?" A person may think: "If I had this one thing, then I would want another, and if I had that, then I would want more." But what if you had everything you desired? Then you would be content. Well, you may be content now without any of it. Our contentment does not consist in getting what we desire, but in God shaping our spirits to fit our conditions. There are men who own not a foot of land and yet live better than those who are heirs to great estates. I have seen this in the countryside: a man who owns his land and yet lives very poorly, while another man who farms rented land, through good management and care, lives better than the landowner. So by the art of contentment, a person may live better without an estate than another person can with one. This adds greatly to the comfort of a Christian. To take it even further: there is more comfort in the grace of contentment itself than in any possession whatsoever. A person has more comfort in being content without a thing than he can have in the very thing he was discontentedly craving.

You may think: "If I had such-and-such a thing, then I would be content." I say: there is more good in contentment itself than there is in the thing you want in order to cure your discontent. Let me show this in several ways.

First, if I had that thing I long for, it would only be a creature helping me to contentment. But as things stand now, it is the grace of God in my soul that makes me content. Surely it is better to be content through the grace of God within than through the enjoyment of some outward comfort.

Second, if I had that thing, my circumstances might improve — but my soul would not be better. But through contentment, my soul itself is made better — something that an estate, land, or friends could never accomplish. Contentment makes me better as a person. Therefore, contentment is a better portion than the very thing I would want to make my portion.

Third, if I gain contentment by having my desire satisfied, that is mere self-love. But when I am content with God's hand and willing to be at His disposal, that contentment flows from love to God. Getting what I want and feeling content about it — that is self-love. Being content through the grace of contentment — that is love to God. And is it not far better to be content from a principle of love to God than from a principle of self-love?

Fourth, if I am content because I have gotten what I wanted, I may be content in that one particular — but having it does not prepare me for contentment in other things. In fact, it may make me more demanding and irritable about other things. Give children what they want in one matter, and they often become more picky and discontented when they do not get what they want in the next. But if I have once overcome my heart and am content through the grace of God within me, that grace does not content me in one particular only — it contents me in general, whatever may come. When I am discontented and finally get the thing I longed for, does getting it prepare me to be content in other things? No. But when I have obtained this grace of contentment, I am prepared to be content in every condition. So you can see that contentment fills a person's life with comfort in this world. The truth is, it is a kind of heaven on earth. What is heaven, after all, but rest and quiet for the spirit? The chief things in heaven are rest, joy, and satisfaction in God. And the contented spirit has exactly these: rest, joy, and satisfaction in God. In heaven there is the singing of God's praises — and a contented heart is always praising and blessing God. You have a kind of heaven on earth when you have a contented spirit. And in some sense — let me say it carefully — there is an excellence in it that even heaven does not have.

In heaven there is no overcoming of temptations, no trials through affliction. The saints in heaven exercise grace — but they have nothing but encouragement to it. Their grace is perfect, which surpasses ours. But nothing crosses their grace; they have no trials at all pulling them in the opposite direction. Now consider: for a man or woman to be in the midst of afflictions, temptations, and troubles — and still exercise grace, still be satisfied in God and Christ and in His Word and promises through all of it — this brings God a kind of honor that He does not receive from the angels and saints in heaven. Is it so great a thing for someone in heaven, surrounded by nothing but good from God, with no trials and no temptations, to praise and bless God? Compare that with the poor soul in the midst of trials, temptations, afflictions, and troubles — who still goes on praising, blessing, and serving God. That is an excellence you will not have in heaven, and a kind of glory God will not receive from you there. Therefore be content, prize this contentment, and be willing to live in this world as long as God pleases. Do not think: "Oh, if only I were delivered from all these afflictions and troubles!" If you were, you would have more ease — but you would lose this way of honoring God. The display of grace's excellence in the conflict of temptation is something God will not receive from you in heaven. So be satisfied and quiet — be content with your contentment. You may lack things that others have, but blessed be God, you have a contented heart that many others do not have. That is a rich portion the Lord has granted you. If the Lord were to give you thousands in this world, it would not be as rich a portion as this — a contented spirit. Go and praise the name of God, and say: "Lord, it is true — there are comforts that others have that I would gladly receive. But You have cut me short. Yet though I lack those things, You have given me something as good and better: a quiet, contented heart, willing to be at Your disposal."